


Someone Else's Mom

by Tasyfa



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Gen, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, alexmanesweek2019, do not copy to other sites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 21:07:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18725008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tasyfa/pseuds/Tasyfa
Summary: Alex runs into Sheriff Valenti in the waiting room at Roswell Community Hospital. Set post S01.





	Someone Else's Mom

**Author's Note:**

> Alex Manes Appreciation Week Day Three  
> Prompt: Alex interacting with others he hasn’t yet (i.e., Max, his mom, Sheriff, etc.).
> 
> Trigger warning for discussion of homophobia, child abuse. Kind of angsty but in a very personal way for Alex - it isn't about romantic relationships.  
> ~Tas

* * * * *

"Alex, how are you? I don't think I've seen you in years, besides that parade the mayor insisted on." A woman's voice cuts through his reverie and Alex looks up at her, summoning a smile.

"Sheriff Valenti, hi. I'm good, thanks. Wasn't that parade a farce?" Enough time has passed, it's a vaguely amusing memory rather than an uncomfortable one. 

"Sure was," her chuckle is warm and Alex doesn't protest when she sits beside him in the waiting room. "You can still call me Michelle. You have been since you were a little boy." 

"Michelle," he nods. "How are you? Just visiting, I hope? I'm here to see a friend myself." Alex doesn't mention Liz's name, and she doesn't ask. 

"Oh, I dropped by to see Kyle. He's working today. Of course he turns his phone off when he's doing his rounds so I've found it's easier to come talk to him directly when he's at the hospital. It's not far from the station."

He nods again. "Makes sense." 

Her expression undergoes a subtle shift. "Kyle was asking me the other day about the friendship between Jim and Jesse. I've been thinking about it ever since that conversation and I realised, you and Kyle drifted apart not long after your fathers did." 

Alex isn't sure what she's getting at, but he won't dance around the truth like he would have at the time. "Yeah, same reason, in the end. Neither my dad nor Kyle could handle me being gay." 

"I see." It's her turn to nod, in easy acceptance. Alex thinks the anticlimacticness of her reaction is outweighed only by Mimi DeLuca's immediate bear hug the first time he came out to her. It's nice, not having to brace for or receive a blow for who he is, be that a literal or a metaphorical hit. 

Michelle continues, "Kyle had a few behavioural problems in high school, I know. He seems to have grown out of them during his medical training." 

This much, Alex can give her. "He has, yeah. We've talked about it some and we're trying to re-establish a friendship. He's a good doctor and a good man." 

Her smile is luminous with pride. "He is, isn't he? Jim and I managed to do something well after all." 

"Jim was a good guy, too. He helped me where he could when I was a teenager. And then with leaving me the cabin. He made a huge difference to my life." There are more shadowy nuances to a lot of Jim Valenti's actions now, in Alex's post Caulfield world, but he still believes Jim did the best he could, with the information he had at the time. 

And died for it when he realised he'd been wrong and tried to course correct. 

He can see Michelle piecing bits together to make a clear picture - incomplete, obviously; there are things Alex cannot tell her - but accurate enough to understand some of what he hasn't said. 

"I know your father is here, in a coma. But he's not the friend you're here to visit, is he?" 

"No. I haven't seen him. I have no intention of doing so, either." He isn't sure if he can trust himself not to literally pull the plug if he has access to it. 

Her lips purse and she stares off into the distance. "So he broke the code. On purpose. He didn't disagree or something, he went totally against it."

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you mean," Alex admits. 

"Jim was no saint. He had problems with liquor, and marital infidelities, and some obsessions that could take him over at times. But he lived his life true to one code: protect your children at all costs," her voice is low, passionate. 

Alex's laugh is sharp and brittle, bitter in his throat. "That's the infamous Valenti code? Then yes, my father broke it. He fucking obliterated it." 

The gentle hand on his knee is a welcome surprise. "I'm sorry. I never guessed." 

"People see what Dad wants them to see. The perfect military family. Strong, patriotic men. The only missing element is the dutiful wife, but he has spin for that, too." The comforting touch has loosed Alex's voice and he can't stop the spillage. "She couldn't handle being a Manes. Her indigenous blood meant she wasn't strong enough. And it tainted me with an aberrant sexuality." 

He's grateful for the way she listens, focused on him but giving him the space and the silence to empty his mind. 

"He forced my brothers into his mould with intimidation and manipulation. When he figured out I was gay, he added beatings to the brainwashing cocktail." He chokes out another laugh. "That was his mistake, in the end. Underestimating me. Believing I was weak. I broke his goddamned mould and in a few more weeks, I'll get my honourable discharge from the Air Force and I can do whatever the hell I want to with my life." 

"Do you know what you want to do?" He doesn't feel like she ignored the parts about his father. More like she's choosing to focus on Alex. 

He opens his mouth. Nothing comes out at first and then he laughs, staccato and edged with disbelief. "You know what, Michelle? I have absolutely no idea." 

She pats his leg. "That's fine, Alex. You could probably use a little breather after the Air Force. Get a good look at where your head and heart are as a civilian." 

It's kind and so maternal, Alex can't help but smile. "A breather sounds good." 

"Now. I know you've said you won't go see him, and I respect that. But if you need some help with your father, you let me know, please." Her mouth sets into a hard line. "I've butted heads with him before when he's stepped outside his jurisdiction and I will keep on doing so." 

Alex doesn't know if it's the words, the tone, or the touch, but he finds himself twisting in the chair to face her, taking both her hands in his. He meets her quizzical look head-on. 

"Michelle, my dad is the kind of person who would deal with a disagreement with an old friend by exposing them to a rapid action environmental carcinogen, and he would consider the swiftness of the resulting death to be merciful and just." 

He feels the jerk in her hands when she understands what he means, her eyes widening and glossy with pooling tears. 

Alex plunges on, "And he wouldn't hesitate to remove the children of his old friend in a similar way, or his own child. Namely, me." 

He can't tell her that a bulletproof vest is the only reason Alex's dad hasn't already murdered Kyle, or that Kyle is the one who put him in the coma so he'll be first on the hit list when Jesse wakes up. He can't tell her about the slavery and slaughter at Caulfield, or the plans to commit genocide. 

But Alex can make it clear that _her son_ is in danger. He finishes on a grave note, "My father is fully capable of committing atrocities in the name of the crazy obsessions he believes are the truth." 

He sees Liz over Michelle's shoulder and gives her hands a squeeze. "My friend is ready so I have to go. But I will come to you if I need help, I promise. Thank you."

Alex accepts the hug, the distracted smile, and hopes she's understood what he's said. 

When the phone rings later that night and Alex sees it's Kyle, he knows even before he answers that Michelle did understand, enough to form her own action plan. He answers and it's exactly the notification he's been twisted in knots about hoping for. He listens to the explanations, to the news that it was silent and painless, to the list of paperwork that needs to be completed which Kyle will email to him. 

He listens to the apologies and he knows they are sincere, despite everything. Kyle truly is a good person. With a mother who loves him and lives by a code. 

Once he hangs up, Alex closes his eyes and breathes. 

Jesse Manes is gone. 

 

 

[Et fini]

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Tumblr if you'd like; same username. My ask box is open! 
> 
> And yes, same Tasyfa as in the OG Roswell fandom once upon a time.  
> ~Tas


End file.
